Hi yet another spine sufferer

[straker]

hi i and in bury UK and at present waiting for ALIF surgery at warrington spinal unit am i allowed to mention the consultant?
previous history .car crash in 1996 operated on in 1997 L4/L5 laminectomy failed and in pain 10 more years went by and i needed more surgery this time at hope hospital manchester L4/5nad S1 discectomy but still in pain .in between both operations i have had every injection known to man ! under the care of the pain clinic at manchester hospital but still in pain .now registered disabled i am on a high amount of oxycontin and oxynorm and diazepam .i sleep for 2 hours a night then pain wakes me .life is not easy .i am married to a wonderful caring woman called kath we have been married for 13 years .i am 45 and male with a 15 year old daughter and that's about it
STRAKER

[Justin]

Hi Straker,

Welcome to the Spine Patient Society!

You have been through quite a lot; unfortunately, like many Members here at SPS. Do you have an idea when you ALIF will be?

Keep us posted and please let us know if you need anything.

[straker]

i wrote a long post but when i came to spell check it .i lost it ! so this is the short version .my operation is on the 28 of December providing the weather is not too bad {as the hospital will be full of flu victims and ;slip and fall ;people } taking all the beds ..and my consultant is on call over Christmas .
STRAKER

[SemperFi]

Hi Straker,
Where will your surgery be taking place? At least you'll be having it done after Christmas. I worked in hospitals and much of the regular staff is off during holidays so I usually like to have any surgery done well before of after holidays. Sometimes that's the only time people who work can have surgery though ( retired) so I understand planning for it at this time (or that they have help available to them home for holidays).

I always like to inquire when my surgeon is taking a vacation or holiday because I don't like to have surgery and then the surgeon is gone out of town the day afterward~

You do have plenty of time to prepare so that's good. Will you be having disc replacement or fusion? I'm sorry if you already mentioned this and I failed to see it. BTW I too had discectomy on L4 and L5S1. The first surgery (L5S1) was successful but rebulged, and second surgery L4 percutaneous discectomy was a super failure. Yeah.. ugh. Those were back in late 80's and early 90's and been too chicken for more surgery tho it was certainly recommended.

Good luck and hope in the interim you can remain comfortable enough while waiting!

[SemperFi]

oops I see Justin mentioned an ALIF? Also I see that you said your consultant is on call over Christmas holidays so that's all good! Having a great wife is also so helpful and a teenager that is old enough to be helpful or at least old enough not to need to be picked up!

[KanRunMo]

Welcome Straker,

Glad you have found this site. It helps if you put in a "signature" with your back problems and any treatments you've tried. It's in the new member section. It helps us know if we have similar problems and have found successful solutions.
Best of luck on your surgery. You've taken a big step toward finding a solution.

[straker]

how do you do a signature line ??
STRAKER

[trkdoc714]

Staker,

If you click the link in the upper right hand of your screen labelled "settings", the next screen will give you the option to edit your signature on the left side of the page.

Let me know if you encounter any problems.

Bob

[KanRunMo]

Thanks, Bob.
Straker,
You won't see "Settings" until you sign into the forum. I haven't done it for a long time. I'm glad Bob is chiming in to help. Contact Justin if you have any trouble.

[straker]

i have tried to put up a signature and picture as directed .but everytime i press save changes nothing happens ..what am i doing wrong ? when i go to settings i can see what i have written but the picture and my medical history is not on the bottom of my post {like it is with everyone else} help!
STRAKER